Buzzing the golf course

Where I used to work we flew right over a golf course if we were departing southbound. Being the cartoon-type creative mind I had always wondered what would happen if we “picked up” a golf ball on departure. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been pretty in real life.

Still it didn’t seem as threatening as what we had near our practice area where we did a lot of our training. There was a skeet shooting range close by so I always made sure I gave that one a really wide berth …

Speaking of golf balls: I just recently learned that the snorkel heads on our Sky-Cranes had to be re-designed at some point so they don’t suck in golf balls which then would ruin the tank doors. I guess engineers originally didn’t think about the possibility of the Crane dipping out of golf course ponds. But then again you can’t think of every scenario ahead of time …

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4 comments on “Buzzing the golf course
  1. Alan M Hoffberg says:

    We have a skeet range angled toward the flight path 200 feet adjacent to the end of 9R/27L at KSFB. Supposedly only the airport wildlife patrol group uses the range for practice.

    When I asked about the safety to arriving/departing flights, the officers of the airport authority said the shot does not reach that high, because the ammo is designed primarily for scaring and not killing the wildlife. Since the airport installed remote controlled propane fired noise canons, I suspect no one uses the range.

    The range makes an interesting point of interest on flights.

  2. Awesome says:

    I am not sure what the function is of scaring wildlife with cannons. I would imagine the aircraft themselves make plenty of noise. ???

    There is a rifle range near our airport. The landing approach for runway 30 takes you directly over the range, and then the final decent is performed downrange and about 1200 yards beyond the target berms. I always make sure I hold my fire if someone is landing and I’m shooting something powerful enough to reach that far.

    Related to today’s comic, runway 19’s approach takes you directly over the fly-in golf club that is located right next to the runway.

  3. Alan M Hoffberg says:

    Awesome: The noise canons are remotely controlled (by the Tower) as to direction and firing. They have been quite effective since their initial installation back in 2013.

    If birds begin to congregate in an area, pilots typically report such. The Tower then fires a few of the canons in the vicinity.

    The birds do not like the sporadic canon firing.

    On the other hand, we have families of crested cranes living at the airport, which mostly stay on the ground. Everyone typically enjoys watching them feed.

  4. FreeFlier says:

    Normal skeet and trap loads use #8 shot, which goes 225 yards maximum.

    It won’t even reach that altitude.

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